Inlet-valve.



C. A. DUNHAM.

INLET VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED oo'r. 10, 1913.

1, 1 28,426. Patented Feb. 16, 1915.

2 BHEETB-8HEET 1.

INVENTOR 4 TTOR/VEV G. A. DUNHAM.

INLET VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED 0GT.10,1913.

Patented Feb. 16', 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

R WM NA fin my D a M fl m M 6 WIT/(E8858 ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLAYTON AUBRA DUNHAM. OF MARSHALLTOVVN, IOWA.

INLET-VALVE.

Application filed October 10. 1913.

To all h run it may concern.

lie it known that I. (my'ron .ktllitl Di'xlmn, a citizen of the United States. residing at Marshalltown, in the. county of Marshall and State of lowa, have invented new and useful Improvements in 1nlet- Valves. of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates in general to valves having an outer casing. and a valve spindle that is regulated and adjusted from the outside'of the casing, and is designed to be used as an inlet valve for steam radiators of all types. and on all systems of steam heating, and especially steam heating systems wherein a partial vacuum is main- .tained in the return pipe. in devices of this general character heretofore used. where packing is relied upon to make a tight joint between the valve spindle and the casing, it has been found tobe diliicult. if not impossible. to maintain a tight joint between said parts, and consequently when the pressure in the radiator is above that of atmosphere, which may be the case in an ordinary gravity system of steam heating and under certain conditions even in a vacuum system, steam to a limited extent frequently blows out from the casing through the joint between the casing and the valve spindle. ('onversely, if the joint between theeasing and the valve spindle is not absolutely tight, and the pressure within the casingis below atmosphere, the vacuum conditions within the casing become impaired or destroyed in consequence of the outward atmosphere pressure being communicated into the interior of the valve casing through the joint between said casing and valve spindle.

My invention has for its principal objects to make an absolutely tight joint between the casing and valve spindle without the use of packing heretofore employed. and also to provide means for constantly lubricat ng the parts that operate the valve spindle.

()thermbjects of my invention are hereinafter stated in connection with the description of the several parts;

'lhcse objects I accomplish by the means illustrated in the acconmairving drawings,

in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a plan of an inlet valve embodying my invention. Fig. 2. is a-longitudi- Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedFeb. 16, 1915.

Serial No. 794,530.

nal vertical central section of the valve shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line ;'l of Fig. 3. Fig. 'l is a horizontal section taken on the line -l--l ot' Fig. :2. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a spindle head. and Fig. (3 is a plan of the under side thereof.

The outer casing of a valve embodying my invention may be of any suitable construrtion. but as illustrated herein. consists of a globe casing 1. having an interiorly threaded inlet opening '2. and a branch 3, provided with anoutlet opening, and a threaded periphery l. designed toengage a union nut so as to clamp a nipple (3 to the threaded end of the outlet branch 3. A bonnet T is secured to the upper open portion S of the valve casing. preferably by means of a threaded liange ll engaging a corresponding thread formed on the upper open portion of the valve casing. The bonnet 7 serves to clamp the outer margin of a. guide plate ll) and the lateral margin ll of a flexible. diaphragm to the wall of the outer casing. and make an absolutely tight connection between the margins of said flexible diaphragm and guide plate and the wall of the. valve casing. copper or other soft metal gasket may be placed between the easing and guide plate. if desired to aid in making a tight joint between said parts. The guide plate 10 serves as a closure for one end of the \alve casing. and it is provided centrally with an oblong opening 12'. The central portion of said guide plate is preferably ollset to form a bearing and guide for a valve spindle l-l that extends up through the oblong opening of the guide plate ll). The lower portion 15 of the Spindle it is preferably threaded to engage a valve holder ll). and is also preferably provided with a shoulder lT designed to clamp the central portion ot' the lower plate lSot a liexible diaphragm. and make an absolutelv tight joint between the. spindle 14' and the valve holder ll'i. l'l' necessary the shoulder 17 of said spindle. the end of the valve holder l6. and the inner margin of the lower plate l of the diaphragm may be brazed or soldered together. The valve holder 16 is prov ided ith a recess 1 to receive the head '30 of a valve stem ll. and the valve holder is also preferably provided with a contracted recess '12 to receive said valve stem 21, The recess l and contracted recess 22 eX- tend radially from the center through the side wall of said valve holder, so as to enable the head 20 and stem 21 to be inserted laterally into the recesses of the valve holder 16. The valve stem 21 is also preferably provided with a circular plate 23 and an elongated shoulder 24, and the lower end 25 of said valve stem is threaded to engage a nut 26 mounted thereon, for the purpose of clamping a valve 27 and aguard between said nut and the plate. 23. The guard consists of a flat plate 28 having an elongated slot (not shown) therein to receive the side walls or edges of the shoulder-24, and the plate of the guard may be provided with a vertical wall 29, arranged opposite the side wall of the valve holder, to limit the lateral movement of the valve head in the valve holder, or said wall may be cut away if desired to form separate projections or ears for that purpose. consists of a cup-like holder adapted to receive a body 30 of any suitable material to bear against the valve seat 31. The special construction of the valve itself does not constitute an essential part of this invention. Any other suitable or desired form may be used in carrying out my invention.

,The upper end of the valve spindle 14 is preferably cut away on opposite sides thereof, to form grooves 32, that engage corresponding ribs formed in a head 33, by cutting a radial groove in the head 33 from the center of said head. By means thereof the upper end of the spindle, 14 may be inserted laterally within said groove in the head 33, and the head 33 prevented fromturning by the spindle, the spindle 14, itself being held from turning by means of the sides of said spindle engaging the oblong opening in the guide plate 10. By means of said construction moreover a loose jointed connection 'is formed between the end of the spindle 14 and the head 33, which prevents the spindle 14 from binding in its bearing in the guide plate. The head 33 is threaded on its outer surface and engages corresponding threads formed on an operating nut 34. The operating nut 34 is provided on its lower portion with a shoulder 35, and has a'bearing in an annular recess formed by an inwardly projecting flange 36 formed on the bonnet 7, and the operating nut is thereby adapted to I be rotated on said bearing. A socket head 37 surrounds the operating nut'34 and is provided interiorly with vertical serrations 44 that engage corresponding serrations formed exteriorly on the operating nut, and enable the socket head to be adjustably attached to the operating nut. The socket head is preferably provided with a set screw 38, the end of which engages an annular groove 45 formed in the outer surface of the operating nut and prevents the socket head from being raised off the operating nut. The socket head 37 may be provided with a The valve 27 as shown handle stem 39 on which a handle 40 may be mounted in any suitable manner. The socket head 37 may also be provided with a pointer 41 arranged above a dial plate 42, said plate being preferably split through on one side so as to be sprung over the bonnet 7 and rest in a slight recess 43 formed in said bonnet. The spring engagement of said dial plate 42 with the bonnet 7 also enables the dial plate to be rotated to any point to correspond with any desired position of the handle. The dial plate 42 is suitably marked to indicate the position of the valve relatively to its I bottom plate 18 having its outer edge upturned and sweated to the offset edge or outer margin of an intermediate plate, the

inner lateral margin of said intermediate plate being offset and sweated to the offset margin of the upper plate, the outer lateral margin of said upper plate being clamped between the upper portion of the casing and the guide plate 10.

The plates comprising the diaphragm shown in the drawings are corrugated, and I prefer that construction for large valves, and in some cases for valves of intermediate sizes, but for small valves, the plates forming the diaphragm may be plain instead of corrugated. I prefer in most cases to form the diaphragm-of a series-of folds or plates arranged in planes substantially parallel with each other, making the width of the entire diaphragm considerably greater than its height. By means of said construction a diaphragm is provided that permits a wide range of movement of the valve and is itself so compactly arranged, as to take up but a minimum space within the valve casing. guard plate46 may be arranged below the guide plate 10 or connected therewith in any suitable manner, in close proximity to the upper plate of the flexible diaphragm, so that in the event of a pressure existing within the valve casing at any time said guard plate will prevent any undue upward movement of the diaphragm due to that pressure.

When the device is in use, the threaded opening 2 is connected with a supply pipe, and the nipple 6 with a radiator, and when the parts are arranged as shown in Fi 2, steam is free to pass into the radiator rom the supply pipe. The amount of steam desired within a radiator can be regulated by the handle of the valve at will, so as to admit steam to fill the radiator under rarefied conditions, or give full steam conditions within the radiator, this being determined handle 40 in one direction raises the valve, and in the opposite direction it lowers the valve. In turning the handle to laterally, the operating nut 34 is partially rotated, the threads of said nut engaging corresponding threads of the spindle head 33. cause said spindle head to ascend or descend slightly, depending on the direction in which the operating 'nut is rotated. The head 33 has no rotary motion. It is locked in fixed engagement with the upper end of said valve spindle 14 by the grooves 32 of the upper end of said valve spindle engaging corresponding projections formed in the central portion of said head. The valve spindle ll is held against rotary or torsional movement because of the fact that it has substantially flat opposite sides that project through an elongated slot formed in the guide plate 10, and bear against substantially flat walls formed by the offset central portion of said guide plate. The walls of the diaphragm connected with the valve spindle are thereby protected against any torsional strain when the valve spindleis being raised or lowered, and the diaphragm expanded or contracted. The diaphragm when fully open is filled with lubricating material, consequently when the diaphragm is contracted by raising the valve, a portion of the lubricating material is prcssed up through the opening 12 between the valve spindle 14 and the walls of the guide plate and up between the threaded surface of the head 33, and the threads of the operating nut 34, and being closely confined within said receptacle, there is no opportunity for said lubricating material to leak out, and consequently it is being constantly used to lubricate the threads of the head 33 and the operating nut 34 whenever the nut 34 is partially rotated to compress the flexible walls of the diaphragm. The operating nut 34 therefore is always free to be readily operated, with but a slight effort on the part of the user.

IVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a valve casing, a nonrevoluble longitudinally movable valve spindle, a flexible diaphragm comprising a series of folds tightly connected with said valve spindle at one end and with a casing at its other end. a guide plate arranged above the flexible diaphragm and tightly secured to said casing at its outer margin forming a chamber with the flexible diaphragm and provided with an aperture for said valve spindle, a threaded head connected with said spindle, and a threaded operating nut engaging the threads of said head.

2. In combination, a valve casing, a nonrevoluble longitudinally movable valve spindle, a flexible diaphragm comprising a series of folds tightly connected with said valve spindle at one end and with a casing at its other end, a guide plate arranged above said flexible diaphragm and secured at its outer margin to said casing to form a chamber with said diaphragm and provided with a spindle aperture and an inturned central portion forming a guide and bearing for said spindle, a threaded head connected with said spindle, and a threaded nut engaging the threads of said head.

3. In combination. a valve casing, a nonrevoluble longitudinally movable valve spindle, a flexible diaphragm comprising a series of folds tightly connected with said valve spindle at one end and with a casing at its other end, a guard arranged above said diaphragm, a guide plate arranged above said guard and diaphragm secured at its outer margin to said casing and provided with an aperture and an inwardly extending bearing for said spindle. a threaded head connected with said spindle. and a threaded operating nut engaging the threads of said head.

4. In combination, a valve casing, a nonrevoluble longitudinally movable valve spindle, a flexible diaphragm comprising a series of folds tightly connected with said valve spindle at one end and with a casing at its other end, a guide plate arranged above said diaphragm secured at its outer margin to said casing and provide with an aperture and bearing for said spindle, a threaded head provided with a radial shouldered recess to engage the end of said spindle, and a threaded operating nut engaging the threads of said head.

In combination, a valve casing, a nonrevoluble longitudinally movable valve spin dle, a flexible diaphragm comprising a series of folds tightly connected with said valve spindle at one end and with a casing at its other end, a guide plate arranged above said flexible diaphragm and secured at its outer margin to said casing and provided with an aperture for said spindle, a bonnet clamping said guide plate to said casing and provided with an annular recess and shoulder, a threaded head connected with said spindle, and a threaded operating nut engaging the threads of said head and provided with an annular flange engaging the recess and shoulder of said bonnet.

CLAYTON AUBRA DUNHAM.

Witnesses:

R. U. THOMPSON, O. S. PETERSON. 

